The sign read, in part, "Getcha popcorn ready."

Dallas Cowboys receiver Terrell Owens wouldn't talk to the media this week about his team's showdowon with the New England Patriots. As USA TODAY explains, he simply hung a sign on his locker that did all his talking.

It also included a shot a Pats WR Randy Moss, calling him "the other 81."

"He's going to be very motivated," Dallas tight end Jason Witten said in the story. "He wants to be the best on the field at all times. Obviously he's got a huge challenge this week. We're going to need him to play big and come alive."

Owens' coach, Wade Phillips, apparently is talking, though he's denying he said what he's reported to have said.

On the HBO football show Inside the NFL, reporter Peter King offered this story on Wednesday:

"Wade Phillips this week told me something that I think a lot of coaches around the league and a lot of people around the league are still thinking, and that is, 'Hey, New England was caught cheating, and it is a black mark on their success.'"

"No, I didn't say that at all," Phillips told The Dallas Morning News after Thursday's practice. "I think they would have won no matter what. I don't know. I have no idea if it even helped them. But they were a great football team, well coached. I don't see any way that they wouldn't have won what they did. I don't think that at all. I don't know why Peter would say that."

Pats head coach Bill Belichick, in turn, had nothing but praise for Phillips and his Cowboys defense.

"Wade has had a great deal of success wherever he's coached defense, whether it be as a head coach or a coordinator. His teams are very sound. They pressure quite a bit and they don't make many mistakes," Belichick offered during a press conference this week.

And if anyone knows anything about Dallas, it's Patriots cornerback Ellis Hobbs, who grew up just 16 miles from Texas Stadium.

"I played there as a kid Pop Warner playoffs and Texas high school football," Hobbs said in front of his locker this week. "So it's not my first time seeing the stadium, so for me to be excited in that sense, I'm used to it. I know what that atmosphere brings. But at the same time, it kind of feels like home territory.

"You do look forward to it. When you're stuck up here in the Northeast, you don't realize how far away you are. My family hasn't seen me in a long time, and it just feels good to go home and play for them."

QUICK HITS

The Fort Worth Star-Telegram says the Cowboy who would normally cover Randy Moss likely won't suit up for Sunday's game.

Calling timeout before a field goal is "icing" on the cake for some kickers, as the Boston Herald notes today.

The Herald also has an interesting piece on how the Krafts have been keeping up with the Joneses since they purchased the Patriots.